1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic programming and simulation apparatus for automatically creating an NC program on the basis of product configuration data, workpiece configuration data, tool configuration data and cutting condition data for each blank material and for each tool, and then simulating a machining operation according to the NC program by analyzing the NC program and displaying a tool image and a workpiece image on a display device so as to check the movement and machining state of a tool on the display device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The operation of an NC machine tool is generally controlled in accordance with an NC program. It is a conventional practice to manually create the NC program by a programmer but, nowadays, an automatic programming apparatus is employed for automatic programming. The automatic programming apparatus includes a storage section storing therein product configuration data, workpiece configuration data, tool configuration data and cutting condition data for each blank material and for each tool, and is adapted to generate programming base data by automatically determining a tool to be used, cutting conditions and a machining sequence on the basis of the data and to create the NC program on the basis of the programming base data. The product configuration data, the workpiece configuration data, the tool configuration data, the cutting condition data and the like may interactively be inputted. The programming base data includes a machining process number, dimensional data (including positional data) for a workpiece portion to be machined in the machining process, to-be-used tool data and cutting condition data which are correlated with each other.
In general, it is necessary to check if tool paths and machining conditions are properly defined by the NC program thus created before a machining operation is performed with the use of the NC program. Conventionally known as an apparatus for performing the aforesaid checking operation is a simulation apparatus for simulating a machining operation according to an NC program including consecutive machining processes each constituted by one or more execution blocks by displaying the configuration of a tool and the configuration of a workpiece on a display device and successively changing the tool configuration and the workpiece configuration on the display device in accordance with the NC program so as to check the movement and machining state of the tool on the display device.
The simulation apparatus analyzes each of the execution blocks of the NC program. Then, the apparatus successively generates pixel data indicative of the tool configuration and the workpiece configuration for the respective blocks on the basis of preliminarily inputted tool configuration data and workpiece configuration data, and displays the tool configuration and the workpiece configuration on the display device on the basis of the pixel data thus generated.
As is conventionally known, the automatic programming apparatus and the simulation apparatus are combined into an automatic programming and simulation apparatus, which is adapted to automatically create an NC program by means of the automatic programming apparatus, and then simulating a machining operation in accordance with the NC program by means of the simulation apparatus. In general, the automatic programming and simulation apparatus is switched to perform the automatic programming process or the simulation process. In the automatic programming process, the data can interactively be inputted, and the data stored in the storage section and the programming data can interactively be edited.
Where the simulation indicates a need for modification of the NC program in the conventional automatic programming and simulation apparatus, however, the modification of the NC program is achieved by manually switching the apparatus to the automatic programming process and then retrieving and editing a part of the programming data to be modified. This operation is troublesome, making it impossible to speedily modify the NC program.
Where the NC program is modified, the machining simulation should be performed again for a modified execution block of the NC program and blocks subsequent thereto to check if the NC program properly works. However, the conventional automatic programming and simulation apparatus is adapted to start analyzing the NC program from the first execution block thereof for the simulation and, therefore, cannot start the simulation from the modified execution block. This requires much time for checking the NC program after the modification.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic programming and simulation apparatus which can easily modify an automatically created NC program and start the machining simulation from a modified execution block of the NC program.